PC Build Guide – December 2012
Welcome to the December version of our PC build guides. As with before, we have implemented hard price limits ($500, $800, $1300, $1800) on ourselves and have had to make tough decisions with each build. Your personal budget will likely be flexible, but we hope this article will give you a baseline. You can of course spend more or spend less, but you run into a case of diminishing returns at either end. Please keep in mind that pricing information is immediate and may not necessarily reflect real prices by the time you have read this article.
As we come into the prime Christmas shopping season, prices on most parts have returned to normal (or even risen, in some cases) after the craze that was Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Aside from some motherboard shuffling and other minor changes compared to last month to stay within our price constraints, the only real noteworthy change is a welcomed video card upgrade for the Starter build, as we trade up from an MSI Radeon 7770 GHz Edition to a GeForce GTX 650 Ti from EVGA.
The Starter ($500 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qJGX
- CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 ($99.99 @ Amazon)
- Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G41 ATX LGA1155 ($87.55 @ Newegg)
- Memory: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($18.98 @ NCIX US)
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
- Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W ATX12V ($39.99 @ Newegg)
- Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $499.47
The Sweet Spot ($800 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qM0E
- CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K ($214.99 @ Amazon)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)
- Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme3 ATX LGA1155 ($109.99 @ Newegg)
- Memory: Patriot IEM 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 ($31.99 @ Amazon)
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB ($244.99 @ NCIX US)
- Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.49 @ SuperBiiz)
- Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W ATX12V ($39.99 @ Newegg)
- Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $798.41
The Enthusiast ($1300 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qMrE
- CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K ($314.99 @ Amazon)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)
- Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 ($119.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1866 ($79.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Hard Drive: Crucial M4 128GB 2.5″ SSD ($99.99 @ B&H)
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB ($379.98 @ Newegg)
- Case: Cooler Master HAF 922 ATX Mid Tower Case ($85.44 @ Amazon)
- Power Supply: Corsair 650W ATX12V / EPS12V ($109.99 @ Newegg)
- Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1297.32
The Professional ($1800 maximum)
Part list permalink: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/qM2U
- CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K ($314.99 @ Amazon)
- CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 ($144.99 @ Amazon)
- Memory: G.Skill Ares 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1866 ($79.98 @ Outlet PC)
- Hard Drive: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5″ SSD ($169.99 @ Newegg)
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5″ 7200RPM ($67.99 @ NCIX US)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($379.98 @ Newegg)
- Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB – 2-Way SLI ($379.98 @ Newegg)
- Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Case ($109.99 @ Newegg)
- Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V ($104.99 @ Newegg)
- Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS324-98 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1791.86
Have a suggestion? Leave it in the comments!
vol1tion
BrandonBrandon started his PC gaming days playing Doom II (IDDQD/IDKFA for life) and has been hooked on online gaming since the original Starsiege: Tribes. The way to his heart is through proper grammar, corn dogs, and cookie cake.
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